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RPN and San Francisco Release Report and Webinar Recording on the Best Rechargeable Batteries

July 07, 2016

Source: City of San Francisco, CA

In the U.S., about 250 million pounds of batteries wind up in landfills each year - along with a variety of toxic heavy metal ingredients. Now more than ever, rechargeable batteries are part of the solution.

In the City of San Francisco's new report, Charging Ahead: How to Find Powerful Rechargeable Batteries that Go On...and On, the City of San Francisco's Department of the Environment teamed up with RPN to survey the best of household rechargeable batteries - that is, those familiar AAA, AA, and D cells. We reviewed the latest technologies, what is on the market, and the most important performance indicators to help you make a better choice.

The good news: rechargeables have improved dramatically. Previous generations of rechargeables suffered from self-discharge. That is, they would lose as much as 4% of their charge per day just sitting in the drawer. "Low self discharge" (LSD) technologies, introduced in 2005, have largely remedied that problem; however, navigating manufacturers' claims on what is or is not LSD is challenging. That's where this report might help.

For more information, including a shorthand view of the report's findings, go to the "batteries" section of the City of San Francisco's website. There you will find the new purchasing specifications for high capacity, low self-discharge batteries (under "criteria for batteries"), as well as product summaries for AAA, AA, and D cells that meet these criteria.

RPN also held a webinar on rechargeable batteries, featuring findings from the report, on Sept 28, 2016. View the recording and slides on our webinars page.